


Lack of Purpose

by whitehorsetiger



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: AU, Developing Relationship, F/M, Fluff, No Calamity Ganon, character interactions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2020-04-06 19:06:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19068820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whitehorsetiger/pseuds/whitehorsetiger
Summary: The princesses of Hyrule, the first born daughters, the Zeldas as per naming traditions, all had some things in common: they were all great horsewomen, amazing archers, strongly spiritual, able to communicate with the goddess Hylia, and with the power to seal away the darkness. Zelda could safely say she was none of these things. Okay, maybe that wasn’t fair. She was reasonably alright with horses.There is no Calamity Ganon, no prophecies. Just two people trying to fin themselves, and their way, in the world.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is an AU where Calamity Ganon is not a thing...I've also taken some artistic liberties with the timings on some things...

The princesses of Hyrule, the first born daughters, the Zeldas as per naming traditions, all had some things in common: they were all great horsewomen, amazing archers, strongly spiritual, able to communicate with the goddess Hylia, and with the power to seal away the darkness. Zelda could safely say she was none of these things. Okay, maybe that wasn’t fair. She was reasonably alright with horses.

The day that would become ‘ _That Day,_ ’ forever ingrained in Zelda’s memory, got off to a truly terribly start, and only got worse from there, as days always seemed to recently. There were two reasons she spent most of her time out of the castle researching ancient technology. For one it was incredibly interesting. The history and purpose of the structures and machines was vague at best and completely non-existent at worst, Zelda was incredibly excited to find it all out. The other reason was it got her away from the gossip around the castle. Zelda wasn’t naïve; she knew what the maids were saying behind her back.

****

Zelda stared up at the white stallion in front of her. He had just arrived from the royal stud farm, son of her mother’s royal white stallion, the traditional mount of the royal family. He was supposed to be Zelda’s new horse. Well, technically Zelda’s first ‘official’ horse she herself owned. He did not seem all that happy to be there, stomping his hoof and tossing his head back.

There was talk around her of what a fine horse he was, what good breeding, how fantastic he’ll be. Zelda’s thoughts summed up to not wanting to ride that horse. At all. Taking a deep breath to steel her nerves, Zelda stepped towards the fence. His head snapped around, eyes locking on her. She could swear he glared at her, but maybe she was overthinking this.

Zelda slipped into the paddock, clenching and unclenching her fists as she slowly approached the horse. His handler bowed slightly as Zelda approached, handing the reins over. Cautiously, Zelda reached up, resting her hand on his neck. His ear flicked back, but he didn’t jerk away or anything. Maybe this wouldn’t be as bad as she thought.

She put a little weight in a stirrup and he didn’t really react other than a single ear back, and a slight shift to be more stable. Okay, no problem, he seemed alright. Letting out a long breath, she swung herself into the saddle and settled in. He shifted around to adjust to her weight. Alright, no problem, she had this.

Tapping his sides with her heels, Zelda let out a sigh of relief as he began to walk steadily forwards.

“Good, don’t they look fantastic,” someone commented.

Tapping his sides lightly again, Zelda relaxed as he shifted to a trot. Alright, this wasn’t going too bad.

Famous last words.

What happened in the next second was unexpected; what startled him Zelda had no idea. Suddenly she was being bucked off, sailing through the air, slamming into the ground. Pain radiated from her elbow and Zelda swore she heard something snap. She screwed her eyes closed to try and stop herself crying out in pain.

“Your Highness!” a few voices called out.

Zelda sat up, waving off their concern. Her arm probably wasn’t broken, but it didn’t really matter ether way. A hearty elixir would fix her right up either way.

“I’m alright,” she said, “I believe he just needs a few more days to settle into this new place.”

Her smile was slightly strained as she clambered back to her feet and looked over to where the horse had run off to. He was at the other side of the paddock, pawing at the ground, his handler having grabbed him.

Exiting the paddock, she turned to the breeder. “Thank you,” she said, with an incredibly strained smile on her face, “I will let you know how he is after a few days when he has settled down.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” the breeder said nervously, “Thank you, Your Highness.”

She turned to the handler, who was still holding the horse.

“Take him to the stables and place him in the royal stall,” Zelda said, “I shall go get my arm checked.”

That was a lie, she’d sneak up to her study and chug down a hearty elixir. No one questioned her. No one had any reason to. So, she began to head back inside, hoping that rumours of her completely failing with the royal stallion would not spread too quickly. Or, at the very least, that her excuse of him being nervous because he is in a new place would not be questioned.

****

In the relative privacy of her study, Zelda chocked down an elixir. They didn’t taste particularly nice, for obvious reasons, but it fixed her arm in seconds. She had her own private supply of elixirs, for… reasons. Fine. Maybe she wasn’t as careful on her adventures as her father liked to think. In all fairness though, her risk-taking, more often than not, paid off.

The pain in her arm faded steadily and soon she was able to move her fingers without wanting to scream out in pain. Collapsing back into her chair, Zelda rested her head in her hand. It didn’t really matter. The royal white stallion was only to show off. She would only need to ride him during parades and other such events. All the other times she could ride much steadier horses.

A knock had Zelda snapping back to attention, turning back to look over at the door. “Enter,” she said.

One of the very few people who didn’t partake in gossip about her—which made her one of Zelda’s favourite people—, Maddie, walked in. She curtsied, smiling gently. “His Majesty requests your presence in the throne room.”

Zelda nodded. “Thank you, Maddie.”

With another curtsy, Maddie turned and left Zelda’s study.

Squeezing her eyes closed for a few seconds, Zelda tried to force herself to relax. If her father wanted to meet her in the throne room, it was likely she was meeting other people as well. That meant she had to relax, find her princess smile, and get changed out of her riding clothes. Well, one of those things was easy enough.

****

Zelda didn’t know what she was expecting when she entered the throne room, but she certainly wasn’t expecting to walk out with a new personal guard. Seriously, you pass out in a sacred spring once and suddenly it’s a ‘big deal’ and she needs ‘supervision.’ She was having a bad day, pushed too hard, tried to force a reaction. It didn’t seem to matter to her father that she swore to never do it again. No. Now she had a personal bodyguard.

She did have vague memories of her knew knight—Link. She’s sure they met as children. Made sense, as he was the child of a lord after all. Sighing, Zelda collapsed back on her bed, resting her arm over her face.

Ever since she’d been old enough to sneak away from her guards, Zelda had been allowed more freedom. Hyrule was relatively safe and, provided she was back by sunset or was staying in Gerudo Town, Zelda was left mostly to her own devices. Looks like that wasn’t possible anymore. Not only that, now there would be someone to observe her complete failures to communicate with the goddess.

Maybe it wouldn’t be as bad as she thought. Although it probably would be. Zelda was usually right about these things.

****

Turns out Zelda was wrong. It wasn’t as bad as she thought it was going to be. It was so. Much. _Worse_. Link hardly spoke, barely at all. He’d say a couple of words if addressed, but not much else. That sort of made everything so much more tense, the two of them remaining in stony silence at any point they were alone together. It made everything awkward. Zelda had no idea what he was thinking and it made her very uncomfortable. It was even distracting her from her prayers, making her very self-conscious. And from that came the anger.

Even worse, were the looks they kept getting. The knowing, implicit looks that made Zelda’s blood boil. Just because they were of similar age and it wasn’t uncommon for princesses to marry their knights, didn’t mean that was going to happen. At least the gossip around the palace wasn’t about how much of a failure of a princess Zelda was anymore. She didn’t really know which was worst honestly.

So, Zelda did what she always did when she needed to vent to someone: she went to Gerudo Town to visit Urbosa. This also came with the advantage that she could speak freely. After all, Link wasn’t allowed in Gerudo Town.

“Zelda,” Urbosa sighed, giving her a knowing and indulgent smile.

Zelda crossed her arms, stopping with her pacing.

“Your father just looking out for you. We were both very worried when you collapsed.”

Zelda’s eye twitched, and she dropped her head, letting out a long breath. “I know,” she said, pinching the bridge of her nose, “I know.”

Urbosa hummed, patting the cushions in front of her. Zelda walked over, dropping to sit with her back to Urbosa. Urbosa began to put tiny braids in her hair, smoothing her fingers through the length of it.

“It is frustrating,” Urbosa said, “I understand, however, one guard is better than a whole platoon.”

Zelda’s face screwed up at the thought of being trailed by a huge retinue of troops, letting out a hum.

“Maybe it won’t be as bad as you think?” Urbosa continued, “You may find you quite like him.”

Zelda let out a long sigh. “Not you too.”

There was a long pause, before Urbosa burst out laughing. “I do not mean like that. Although…”

“No,” Zelda bit out, cutting her off.

“Alright, alright,” Urbosa chuckled, “I did mean in a friend way.”

“He won’t talk to me,” Zelda said, “Won’t say a thing, just follows silently. I don’t need someone else there as I fail.”

Urbosa hummed, “Maybe if you try talking to him?”

Zelda squeezed her eyes closed, dropping her head a little. “I don’t know. I don’t know how I would start a conversation? He just… he frustrates me so much.”

“The situation frustrates you,” Urbosa pointed out, “Don’t take it out on him, you’ll just make it worse.”

Zelda kicked out her leg a little. “I don’t need a babysitter, let alone one the same age as me.”

Urbosa laughed, wrapping her arms around Zelda’s shoulders in a hug, and asked, “No, but sometimes it is nice to have someone watching out for us, is it not?”

Zelda grumbled softly, but remained silent.

“Although, if you want to just rant for a bit I’ll be happy to listen,” Urbosa offered, leaning back.

“No… I… I shouldn’t,” Zelda said with a weak smile.

“It will make you feel better.”

Zelda could feel the smile in her voice. “I— alright, I will give it ago.”

Urbosa was right, Zelda did feel better after ranting. She even managed to muster up as smile for Link. Like every moment of relief though, it didn’t last.

****

Link remained silent, Zelda continued to fail, the tension continued to build. Zelda was very unwilling to try riding the white stallion again. She just… she knew it wouldn’t work out. So instead, Zelda spent her time travelling from province to province, continuing her research and meeting the people along the way. The whole time he was there, dutifully following, dutifully remaining silent.

Zelda tried to slip away, tried to get places he couldn’t possibly find her. A place like that though apparently didn’t exist. No matter where she went, how far she travelled, how crazy her path was, he always managed to find her. If Zelda wasn’t so frustrated, she would be impressed. It all finally came to a head over the span of three days.

The first day was spent praying at the Spring of Power, up to her waist in cold water, praying to a goddess she couldn’t hear. It was just kind of miserable, Zelda staring up at the stone face of the goddess statue. She wanted to do something, to shout, to scream, to beg the goddess to just speak to her. The longer she stayed there, the more frustrated she got. It was so much worse with him there. She couldn’t help but feel he was judging her… her failure.

The second day, something incredibly exciting happened. Something very interesting! An old piece of technology had been found buried deep in a cave, in the cliffs surrounding Zora’s Domain. Zelda didn’t visit Zora’s Domain very often, at least not without her father on an official visit. It was just a bit awkward to get to and she always, somehow, ended up soaked after.

Anyway, she and… _Link_ … made their way up to Zora’s Domain, so she could take a look at what they had found. And what they had found had Zelda’s jaw dropping. A huge mechanical creature, clearly of the same technology as the strange structures dotted across Hyrule. It was gigantic, drooping and clearly deactivated, but still magnificent. She had read about giant creatures that fought against evil, but Zelda never imagined they’d be real.

Opening up the huge thing turned out to be a bit tricky. Zelda had her Sheikah slate; it was just a matter of finding where to put it. Though getting in could wait, as there was just so much to see on the outside of the creature.

“Princess?” Mipha spoke from beside her, smiling gently, “Will you be requiring my assistance for anything else?”

“I— no, it’s alright, I know you’re busy,” Zelda replied, smiling back, “And I’ve told you to call me Zelda.”

Mipha’s smile softened as she shook her head. “Don’t worry, almost everyone is busy with your visit, I have time.”

“There isn’t any need to do anything special because of me,” Zelda insisted, “You don’t need to go to any trouble.”

“It’s no trouble,” Mipha replied, “We’re just happy you’re here.”

Realising she wasn’t going to win this discussion, Zelda simply nodded with a smile. Mipha nodded in turn, before moving over to stand next to Link. That was when something unexpected happened, the two of them struck up a conversation.

Zelda knew Link and Mipha had known each other for a while, their friendly greeting when they’d first arrived had made that incredibly clear. But the easy way they talked to each other sent a jolt through Zelda, a stark reminder that yes, she was his princess and yes, that was why he wasn’t really talking to her.

Link seemed to notice Zelda was looking at him and quickly fell silent. Sighing, Zelda returned to looking at the massive machine in front of her. Seemed like it was time for her to get lost in her studies. That was fine, there was a great deal to unpack.

Later, when she’d returned to the castle, but before she could escape to the relative privacy of her study, she was blocked off by her father. He was not happy that she’d gone to the Zora’s Domain not riding her royal white stallion. The horse had plenty of time to settle down; it was time for her to start using him. Zelda fisted her hands, tensing all the way down her arm. He was right… but Zelda didn’t want to fail again.

The frustration from the first day, the slight bubble of resentment from the second, then all her anger finally bubbled over on the third day. She’d managed to slip away from Link for a little while, going to look at one of the old structures to try to activate it. It didn’t work, just as she expected. That’s when she heard him ride up behind her and Zelda… just… _snapped_.

Her anger, her frustration, all bubbled over in an instant, and all of it was directed towards Link. What she was saying was probably completely uncalled for, but she couldn’t stop herself. It was cathartic, for a moment, getting some of her frustration off her chest. That was before the guilt came crashing down, which just seemed to make her angrier. Zelda stormed off and, ever dutiful, even after everything she said, Link followed her.

****

Zelda locked herself in her study for the next few days, looking over the notes she’d written down about the great machine in Zora’s Domain. Well, that was her excuse anyway. Honestly she was just avoiding Link at this point, even though it was a bit of a cowardly move. She just… needed time to get her thoughts together.

It wasn’t unusual for Zelda to shut herself away, especially after a new discovery, so no one was suspicious of her behaviour. But that didn’t mean she could stay inside forever. After one week, Zelda decided to emerge before anyone tried to confront her on what the hell she’d been doing all this time. She’d also read through her notebook about twenty times by now; there probably wasn’t much else she could really get out of it.

It was very early in the morning when she set off, not bothering to tell anyone. She wasn’t going very far anyway, just out into Hyrule Field. There was a little pedestal in the centre where her Sheikah slate fit, but nothing really happened when she’d tried before, so she wasn’t expecting much. Was worth trying again though.

Zelda hadn’t bothered getting a horse out, and she wasn’t surprised when she heard another set of footsteps join her own, Link appearing in the corner of her eye. Zelda lightly bit the inside of her cheek. She should apologise, say something at least. She was still a tiny bit bitter though and just couldn’t bring herself to do it.

They were almost there when, something completely unexpected happened.

“Your Highness!”

It wasn’t the first time she’d heard him speak, but it was surprising enough to get her to turn. She was completely caught off guard when his hand hit her back, sending her staggering, then sprawling to the ground. She just had time to flip over before the sight and sound of an arrow hitting his shield caught her attention.

Link drew his sword as a swarm of Bokoblins seemed to burst out of nowhere. He didn’t seem all that surprised by this development, simply bracing himself for the onslaught. Zelda didn’t watch the guards train that often, and she’d also never been attacked by monsters before. The way Link dealt with them though was a sight to behold.

He struck quickly, no hesitation in his movement. He brought down one Bokoblin after another, easily blocking and parrying their attacks. It was almost like a dance. It seemed to take no time at all before the fight was over, Link drawing out his bow to shoot the last of them, the one that had fired the first shot. Zelda thought it was over, Link must’ve thought it was over. Somehow, one managed to sneak up on them, slamming its club down on Link’s shoulder. To his credit, Link barely flinched. Swinging his sword around, he drove it right into the monster’s chest. Now, it was over.

“Are you alright, Your Highness?” Link asked, walking towards her.

Zelda scrambled to her feet, probably much more inelegantly than normal, but she had bigger things on her mind.

“I’m fine, are you alright?” she asked back, closing the remaining distance between them.

He was rubbing his injured shoulder with a slightly pained look on his face, so she already knew the answer.

“I’m fine, they don’t hit that hard,” he replied.

Zelda completely ignored his answer, honestly she was going to disregard it no matter what he said. Digging through her bag, Zelda pulled out a hearty elixir.

“Here, take this,” she said, holding it out.

Link held up a hand. “No, no I don’t—”

“Just take it,” Zelda interrupted, basically shoving it into his hands.

He didn’t argue any more, screwing his face up at the taste as he chugged it down. “Thank you,” he said once he’d finished, rolling his shoulder.

Zelda nodded at him, taking the empty bottle back. Now… now was the time to say something. Thank you, I’m sorry, something, anything.

“We should head back.” Not that. Zelda almost groaned at her own idiocy. “We need to tell my father there were some Bokoblins in Hyrule Field.”

She turned and began to head back the castle, letting out a long breath. Goddess, why could she not just say something? She needed to say sorry, thank you, _anything_. But she just couldn’t.

****

The news of monsters in Hyrule Field made her father double down on keeping Link, as Zelda’s personal knight, ever by her side, which honestly she was actually grateful for. He also seemed even more determined for her to learn how to use her evil-sealing powers, not that they would do much good under this circumstance. For that she was less grateful.

Luckily, he was trapped in meetings all day, so didn’t know she hadn’t taken the royal white stallion out when she left. She actually waited for Link this time, and, instead of going to the closer Spring of Power like usual, she went to the Spring of Courage. It was really too distant for her to go for only one day, and her father wouldn’t let her sleep at the nearby stable on her own. With Link there though, the king was happy to allow it. She was glad of this, as she liked going to the Spring of Courage, mostly for the relaxing and peaceful ride through the forest.

The long ride also gave her time to think through what she was going to say to Link. She needed to thank him for saving her from the Bokoblins, to… apologise to him for being kind of cruel. Apparently it wasn’t long enough. By the time they reached the spring, she still had no idea what to say to him.

After standing in the water for a while and not hearing anything, Zelda sighed slightly. Not speaking to Link was eating away at her, she couldn’t concentrate on her prayer. As per usual, Zelda was likely overthinking this. She just had to say something.

“I’m sorry,” she said, turning in the water.

Link was looking the other way, surveying the forest behind them. Zelda dropped her arms.

“Link, I’m sorry,” Zelda repeated, looking over at him.

He turned to look at her, confusion written all over his face. Zelda swallowed, resisting the urge to stare at her hands in the water.

“I’m sorry for what I said before. It was uncalled for… I shouldn’t have taken all my frustration out on you. Also, thanks for saving me yesterday… I know it’s your duty, but still, thank you.” Zelda took a deep breath. This time she did look down at her hands. “I want to start over, please. We’re going to be spending a lot of time together and it would be easier on both of us if we had an amicable relationship.”

When she was finished, she glanced up, meeting his eyes. His eyes flicked over her face—Zelda didn’t know what he was looking for—but a small smile spread across his face before he nodded. Letting out a sigh of relief, Zelda turned back around. Her mind clearer, her chest lighter, Zelda was able to focus on her prayers.


	2. Chapter 2

Zelda wouldn’t call what they had a friendship. Not just yet anyway. Link still wouldn’t talk much, which was a little off putting, but Zelda took it much more in stride. She began to talk to him, not expecting any replies. It was nice, being able to talk to someone about her theories and not having them interrupt with something completely unrelated. He also seemed genuinely interested, or at least enough to pay attention to what she was saying.

Having a personal knight also came with an unexpected added bonus of extra freedom. Link didn’t seem all that interested in stopping her from going anywhere: up mountains, into the desert, across lakes, rivers, and oceans. What Link was interested in was keeping her alive in those places, and Zelda was fine with that. It also meant she could be out for more than one day.

However, just as soon as she had gotten used to this new found freedom, it was ripped away from her. Her and Link had just returned from Lake Hylia, studying the shrine there and speaking to the Zora that had been around. Zelda was actually in a really good mood. Then she was told her father wanted to see her. Whether she knew it or not, her good mood was about to be completely destroyed.

Her father was in his study, staring out of the window. Zelda knew she looked a bit messy from the ride back, hair a little tangled from the wind.

“Father?” Zelda called out hesitantly, “You wanted to see me?”

He let out a long sigh, turning to look at her. “Yes, Zelda, sit,” he said, gesturing to the seat at the other side of his desk.

She slid down to sit on the chair, trying to not look too nervous, as he seemed to be assessing her.

“Zelda,” he began, leaning over with his fingers intertwined, “I hear you have not been using your royal stallion.”

Zelda opened her mouth, but her father held up his hand to cut her off.

“I have given you ample opportunity to do this on your own. To take the initiative and start using him yourself. I can see now that won’t be the case. Zelda, you are a princess, you need to start acting like one. I will allow you to continue your research, but you are not to leave the castle unless it is on the back of that white stallion. Do I make myself clear?”

Zelda wanted to argue, but there was nothing she could say to change his mind. “Yes father, I understand.”

She didn’t know it was possibly for her mood to take a dive that quickly but, hey, here they were.

****

It was night-time and Zelda should have been in bed, but here she was, in the paddock, with the white stallion. He was just as imposing as the first time, and she wasn’t just saying it because she’d already fallen off him five times tonight. None of them had been as bad as that first time. Maybe it was time to give up for the night; the longer she tried the more frustrated she got and the less time it took for him to throw her off.

One more time, just one more time. She couldn’t let him win. He jerked away when she tried to grab his reins, backing up before cantering away from her. She stared at him, before letting out a long sigh, chasing after him. He didn’t let her get close at all before tossing his head and cantering away again.

“No, come on,” Zelda sighed, “I just, once more please.”

He wasn’t having any of it, jerking out of her reach every time she got anywhere near him.

“No, I, come on!”

“You’re not going to get him that way,” Link called out.

Zelda froze, slowly turning around. Link was leant up against the fence, watching her.

“How long have you been there?” she asked.

He shrugged. “Not long, just long enough to know you’re not going to catch him.”

“Right. What would you suggest?”

Link hummed, before hopping the fence easily. He walked over to stand by her side, eyes flicking over the horse carefully. “You’re agitated,” he observed, “That makes him agitated.”

Zelda had figured that one out herself, but remained silent.

“He doesn’t know you that well, so he’s nervous,” Link continued, “Here.” Pulling something out of his pocket, he placed it in Zelda’s hand.

Zelda frowned, at it. “An apple?”

Link nodded towards the horse, so Zelda looked up at him. His ears were perked up and he was looking directly at her, or rather, at the apple in her hand. Link smiled lightly, encouraging. With a deep breath, Zelda began to walk towards the horse. He didn’t run away, instead he focused on the apple in her hand. He took it from her hand the second she got close enough, crunching it down. She grabbed his reins, at least he wouldn’t be running off again, and hesitantly reached up and rubbed up and down his neck.

“Aren’t you handsome,” Link said, coming up and rubbing his nose.

Zelda sighed, scratching the horse’s neck lightly.

“How many times has he thrown you?” Link asked.

“I— he—” Zelda tried to protest, then she remembered the state she was in, “Five times.”

Link nodded, very clearly fighting back a smile.

“How many times have you fallen off a horse?” Zelda retorted, crossing her arms.

Link coughed to cover up a laugh. “One horse, or all together?” He shrugged to himself. “Either way more than five.”

“Exactly.”

“Look,” Link said, scratching between the horse’s eyes lightly, “If he starts to act up, sooth him, make sure he knows you’re there.”

“And that will make him stop throwing me?”

“Probably not completely, but not as much?” Link shrugged again, “But it’ll at least help and get him more used to you.”

Zelda nodded.

“You giving it another go?”

Zelda nodded once more, keeping a hold of the reins and swinging herself into the saddle. Link backed up to the fence, shooting her a light smile.

Taking a deep breath, Zelda set him off into a walk. He seemed happy with this, wandering around the paddock with her guidance. She urged him into a trot easy enough. All too soon though, he began to pull at the reins, snorting and tossing his head.

“It’s okay,” Zelda assured softly, rubbing his neck.

He shook his head and slowed down to a walk, but didn’t throw her or run her into the fence.

“Good boy.” Zelda smiled, urging him into a trot again.

It took much longer, and for her to urge him into a canter, before he started pulling against her again. It took much longer to calm him down this time and he completely stopped, still shaking his head a little. But Zelda was still securely on his back, so she counted it as a win.

Dismounting, she smiled, patting him on the side. “Good boy.”

Link wandered back over, a bright smile on his face.

“Thank you,” Zelda said, smiling at him.

Link shrugged, reaching up to stroke the horse’s face. “When I first got Epona, she was… a handful. Threw me more times then I care to mention.”

Zelda froze. Link didn’t really talk about his life. Not because he really had anything to hide. He just… didn’t.

“It was my mother who taught me that,” Link continued, “There needs to be some trust, between you and the horse as well as the horse and you.”

Zelda nodded. “Apples and pats, I think I can manage that.”

“And carrots,” Link added, “For a special treat.”

“And carrots,” Zelda parroted.

****

Link was right, her bond with the horse only grew and as it did, his acting-up lessened. She even felt confident enough to give him a name: Cirrus. An added bonus was that it got her father off her back for a bit. It took some time and a lot of riding around the stable grounds, but eventually she was sure she’d got riding him down. So, with happiness bubbling through her chest, she decided to go out on a ride. No destination, no thoughts, no worries, just her, Cirrus and the wind. Also Link. He kind of had to come too.

The four of them set out early, weaving through castle town before finally escaping to Hyrule Field. Zelda tilted her head back, taking a deep breath of the fresh air. She kicked Cirrus into a canter, loosing the reins and letting him take her along the path. Link rode beside her, the two of them falling into an easy silence.

The pair headed towards the Great Plateau, stopping off on occasion to chat with the knights in the area. She got to learn a great deal about Link from them. Apparently his mother used to take him to visit them when he was young, before he started his own training. They chuckled and teased him lightly, ruffling his hair playfully. Zelda felt a light smile twitch up the corner of her mouth unintentionally.

She had a surprising amount of fun with the knights, making her regret not spending time with them before. Although, they probably wouldn’t have behaved like this around her without Link. Zelda could honestly have spent all day there, listening to their stories and laughing, but the draw of continuing their ride was just too strong, so they bid their farewells and set off again.

They continued onward, curving around the Great Plateau, slowing to a walk and headed up towards Tabantha. They decided they were going to take a break at Sanidin Park, talking lightly as they headed up the hill. She rubbed Cirrus’s neck, before patting his shoulder.

“I’ll race you to Sanidin Park,” Zelda said, smiling lightly at Link.

He raised his eyebrows at her, before nodding. The two of them pulled their horses to a halt. Zelda readjusted herself in the saddle.

“First one to the horse statue wins,” Zelda announced, “Ready… Go!”

She kicked Cirrus into motion, pushing him to canter, to gallop. He took off, hooves pounding on the path. He was fast, but so was Epona. The two of them tore along, kicking up dust and dirt on the way. Zelda was just ahead, but it was really close and she had a feeling it was only because she had been the one to say ‘go.’

She spotted the horse statue in Sanidin Park, urging Cirrus to go faster, leaning low over his neck. It was a little immature, but Zelda really wanted to win. That was when someone emerged from the park, on the path, on horseback. Zelda was forced to make a split-second decision, wrenching the reins a little too hard back and to the side. Cirrus skidded off to the side, rearing and whinnying in protest. She was pretty sure it was only her determination that kept her on the horse.

The poor man who just almost got ploughed into by two galloping horses shot them a strange look as he rode past. Zelda found herself wishing she hadn’t put the royal saddle and bridle on Cirrus that morning, at least then she would have had some deniability. She scratched his neck and patted his shoulder, trying to get him to calm down and forgive her for the slightly harsh treatment.

The two made their way into the park at a more reasonable pace, dismounting their horses when they reached the wall. Leaving their steeds to pick through the grass by the wall, the pair made their way up to the statue. Link went to sit on the wall, looking over Hyrule Field. Zelda took a picture of the statue, before wandering over to sit beside him.

She began to fiddle with the Sheikah slate, trying to find something new. She knew it wasn’t showing her all its secrets, but Zelda had no idea how it worked. Sighing, she clipped it back onto her belt, before propping her head up on her knee.

“What are you thinking?” Zelda asked.

Link blinked, looking over at her. “I’m just…” he trailed off thoughtfully, before letting out a long breath, “Never mind.”

Zelda bit her lip, before shaking her head. “Tell me. It seems to be bothering you?”

“I’m glad we got out today,” Link said, “It’s been a bit…” He waved his hands and trailed off, frowning slightly.

“Oppressive,” Zelda finished.

Link nodded. “I feel like I’m going to say something wrong.”

Zelda sighed softly, before nodding in agreement. “Yeah. Yeah, I get it.”

They sat there for a little longer, before setting off again. It was getting towards later in the afternoon, but she wanted to get to Tanagar Canyon before heading back. Link remained silent; he probably didn’t want to return just as much as she did.

Zelda kicked Cirrus into a canter, Link following suit on Epona, and tilted her head back, taking a deep breath. Not for the first time, Zelda entertained the idea of what life could be like if she was a traveller… or a travelling researcher.

They pulled the horses to stop at Tabantha Stable, a good place for weary travellers to rest but in a location where a village or town couldn’t be built. They climbed up the small ridge at the back to get to the structure there. Zelda wandered around it, holding up the Sheikah slate. Link stood off to the side, half watching her, half keeping an eye out.

“I’m sure it has something to do with the slate,” Zelda remarked, “They have all the same markings, but there’s just no reaction.”

Link’s eyes and attention flicked back to her. “Has anything reacted to it?”

Zelda shook her head with a slight sigh. “Nothing. Although, where we found it _was_ lit up…even though nowhere else seems to be. Maybe we should head back there?”

Link nodded, before his head snapped to the side. He was looking out over the canyon, seeming to be watching something.

“What is it?” Zelda asked, tensing.

There was a long pause, before Link shook his head and looked back at her with a smile. “Nothing, sorry. I thought I saw something.”

His eyes flicked back to the canyon and Zelda had a feeling he was lying, but when she looked out, she couldn’t see anything. Maybe she was being paranoid.

“It’s getting late,” Link suggested, “We should probably head back.”

He was right, the sun was setting, but she couldn’t help think there was something he was hiding from her. The wind kicked up suddenly, Zelda’s hair flicking into her face. She pushed it away, peeling the strands off her lips where they’d stuck.

“Yes,” she agreed, “Let’s head back.”

****

They set out for the Shrine of Resurrection the next afternoon, right after Zelda’s morning lessons. It wasn’t too difficult to get to, or too far. Zelda was confident they would have enough time to explore the place that day. After all, it had already been thoroughly examined before. She might have missed something though and now she had Link. He occasionally spotted things she didn’t notice.

Making their way into the cave, then dropping down into the shrine, the two of them looked around.

“This is the only one of the ancient buildings that actually has any information about it,” she said, “It’s called the Shrine of Resurrection and it’s supposed to be able to heal any wounds, even bring someone very recently died back to life.”

“Wow,” Link replied in awe, running his hand over the wall.

Zelda nodded, leading him deeper. The whole area was lit up by a faint blue-orange glow. There wasn’t really a great deal to see, only two rooms with a few crates and supplies but little else. The only points of interest were the pedestal where the Sheikah slate was found, and the big bed… vat… thing, which was supposedly for healing.

Unlike every other ancient structure, this one was active. She tucked the slate back into the pedestal. As she was expecting it slotted in, turning and locking in place. A few seconds later it unlocked and released the slate again, nothing unusual. She turned to where Link was studying the big basin, his eyes flicking over the whole thing. He slowly walked around it, eyes scanning. He didn’t seem to be reacting to anything in particular though. Zelda sighed, turning back to the pedestal. Nothing. Why was nothing happening? It seemed like something should be happening.

Slotting it back, Zelda watched it lock into place. Link made a startled noise, followed by the sound of shuffling feet.

“What?” Zelda asked, turning around.

The basin was slowly filling with a blue liquid and Zelda could kick herself for how stupid she’d been. Of course, the pedestal was for the healing vat.

“What happened?” Zelda asked as the liquid started to drain away.

“I put my hand in there and, that started to happen,” Link answered.

“Put it back,” Zelda ordered, the Sheikah slate popping back out.

“What?”

“Put your hand back, let it get submerged.”

Link shot her a look, a ‘that sounds like a terrible idea’ look.

“It’s a place for healing, you’ll be fine!”

Link raised his eyebrows.

“Look, if it starts to burn, just pull your hand out.” Zelda smiled in what she hoped was a reassuring way.

She could almost see the moment resignation flickered over Link’s face, the realisation there is no chance he could win.  He placed his hand into the tank, still clearly not happy with this development. He’d be fine. Probably.

She placed the Sheikah slate back into place, before turning around. The tank began to fill with blue liquid, encasing Link’s arm completely.

“How is it?”

“It’s… warm?”

“Warm? That’s all?”

“It’s warm… it’s wet… feels a little gooey,” Link listed, “I don’t know?”

“Gooey?” Zelda asked.

Link nodded, moving his hand around.

“Thicker than water but not as thick as chuchu jelly.”

Zelda hummed, staring into the vat. Nothing else really seemed to be happening.

“No injury detected,” a voice sounded from the pedestal.

The two of them looked at it, but it said nothing else and the blue liquid began to drain. Link pulled his arm out and the stuff just seemed to immediately evaporate off his hand. It seemed to cling to his clothes a little though. He flexed and clenched his hand, rolling his wrist.

“Feels the same,” he noted.

Zelda nodded, before grabbing his hand and looking the whole thing over. Link relaxed his wrist as she began to move his joints around.

“No difference?” she double-checked.

“No difference,” Link confirmed, “Although I don’t have any injuries.”

Zelda nodded, “Right.”

She fiddled with his wrist for a bit longer, before nodding, letting him go and moving to grab the Sheikah slate. She flicked though it… and noticed something new. One of the screens, dark blue split up with light blue lines, now had a small marker on it. Zelda, curious, pressed it lightly. A small label appeared above it.

‘Shrine of Resurrection.’

Another marker, a little yellow triangle over the shrine marker.

“It’s a map,” Zelda exclaimed, “This screen is a map!”

Link frowned down at it, “No, it’s not?”

“No, I mean, it’s not filled in and I don’t know how to fill it in, but look, the triangle is the slate and this marker is telling us we’re in the Shrine of Resurrection.”

Link made a soft noise, nodding thoughtfully. “Would be useful if it was filled in.”

“I know.” Zelda frowned. “Now if I only knew how to do that. But this! This is new!”

Link nodded, a slight smile twitching up the corners of his mouth. “Where do we go from here?”

“I-I don’t know,” Zelda said, frown deepening, “Nothing’s ever reacted like this, nothing else even glows and I don’t know how to activate them, or even if I can…”

“What about that machine in Zora’s Domain?” Link asked, “We haven’t been there in a while.”

“Yes, I… we should probably re-examine it. There has to be some way to access it. We can’t go tomorrow, and I was planning on taking a day of prayer after… so… the day after that. We’ll go.”

Link nodded and the two of them began to make their way out, Link giving her a boost to get up the ledge. The horses were still stood outside the cave, cropping at the grass there. Link pulled two apples out, tossing one to Zelda. She rolled her eyes slightly, offering one to Cirrus. Link fed the other to Epona, before scratching her nose and resting his forehead against her neck.

“You spoil her,” Zelda remarked, swinging herself into the saddle.

Link smiled, swinging himself up. “She’s my best girl, I’ve got to pamper her.”

“I pity whoever marries you. Especially when they find out you love a horse more than them.”

Link snorted as they set off down the hill, “That’s cold, Princess.”

Zelda took a deep breath, looking down at her hands curled around the reins. “Link, in private, when it’s just the two of us, out here… I would like it if you called me Zelda, please.”

Link blinked, staring at her for a minute. “Are you sure?” he asked, eyes slightly tight.

Zelda nodded. “Yes, I am, I would like it very much.”

Link nodded back, smiling slightly. “Alright, Zelda,” he said, almost seeming to test the name.

It made Zelda smile much brighter than she probably should’ve, hearing him call her by her name. She could now, very safely say, they were friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know what this is, it's just something I fancied writing...  
> I don't know how many chapters this is going to be, how long it is going to cover. It'll depend on how popular this is and how much inspiration I have...
> 
> So comments and kudos are always appreciated, I hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

“This seems like a really dumb idea,” Zelda remarked, “You should do it.”

She and Link were currently standing on the Bridge of Hylia, Link peering over into the water below.

“Besides, Mipha’s down there,” she continued, “And the lake’s really deep. People have done it before and been fine.”

“Alright,” Link said, “I’m going to do it.”

“Okay,” Zelda said, pulling her Sheikah slate, “I’m going to take a picture. We need a record of this.”

“Of course,” Link agreed, climbing up on the ledge.

He waved to Mipha below, who waved back. She’d been down there ever since Link had said he was going to jump off the bridge, waiting for the inevitable. Apparently spending time around Link as a child seemed to have brought her to the conclusion that trying to talk him out of anything was pointless.

“Do a flip,” Zelda said, standing beside him.

Link snorted before jumping. Zelda had no doubt in her mind he’d be perfectly alright. Both of them had done things even more stupid and come out relatively unharmed.

Link did actually do a flip, which Zelda was not expecting and she almost missed her photograph opportunity. He hit the water in an almost perfect dive, surfacing quickly after. Zelda grinned, waving down at him, then turned and whistled, so that Epona and Cirrus would follow her as she made her way the rest of the way across the bridge.

Link and Mipha had made their way out of the water by the time Zelda and the horses had reached the bank.

“Did you get the picture?” Link asked, drenched and unconcerned by it.

“Yes, I did,” Zelda said, pulling it up, “Nice flip.”

Link smiled. “Thank you.”

“That is a nice picture,” Mipha commented, leaning in to get a look.

“Isn’t it?” Zelda said, “Although it’s not my favourite.”

“It’s not the one of me falling off Epona is it?” Link asked.

Zelda smiled and hummed, flicking back to the mentioned image. He was perfectly fine afterwards, of course, but it really was a fantastic action-shot.

“Wow,” Mipha murmured. She glanced over at Link, giving him a once-over. After deciding he was clearly unharmed from his adventure, her eyes returned to the slate. Mipha opened her mouth a couple of times, seeming a little unsure on what to say. “Impressive,” she settled on.

“You’re never going to let me live that down are you?” Link sighed.

“No,” Zelda replied, “I’m very proud of this shot. Do you know how hard it is to get a picture of something moving like this?”

“I know. I was there when you tried to take a picture of those pigeons.”

“They wouldn’t stop moving!” Zelda protested.

“They’re birds.”

Zelda opened her mouth, but snapped it shut with a slight huff. Mipha shot her a curious look, making Zelda groan. She flicked though the slate, before showing Mipha the incredibly blurred picture of a rainbow pigeon, though it looked more like a smudge of colours.

“The slate registers the things I take the picture of and gives some information on them,” Zelda explained, “I’m trying to find everything logged and birds are very difficult to take a picture of.”

“Well, it looks good,” Mipha said. Mipha was not a good liar.

“What is it supposed to be?” Zelda asked.

Mipha blinked, faltering for a second. “A… pigeon.”

“What kind of pigeon?”

Mipha opened and closed her mouth, before shaking her head. “It’s not a good picture,” Mipha admitted, smiling weakly, “Sorry.”

“No, you’re right,” Zelda sighed, “It’s a terrible picture. We’re going to have to go back.”

“We’re going to have to do what?” Link asked, suddenly back to paying attention to the conversation.

“Try and take another picture of a rainbow pigeon.”

Link groaned a little, “But it was so difficult getting that one.”

“It’s not good enough,” Zelda insisted.

“It’s not that bad,” Mipha said consolingly.

“No one’s going to look at it!” Link added.

“But what if they do? What in the future people use it to learn about our civilisation and all they have to go on is a terrible photograph of a pigeon?!” Zelda protested.

“I don’t think a good picture of a pigeon would be much better,” Link pointed out.

Zelda whipped around to glower at him.

“Alright we’ll go back,” he conceded, putting his hands up.

Mipha giggled softly, shaking her head before smiling. “You’ll have to show me when you get a good picture. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a rainbow pigeon.”

“We will,” Zelda said, “Besides, we still need to come look at that big beast again. Sorry we haven’t visited recently.”

Mipha waved her off lightly. “Don’t worry, I know you’re busy,” she said softly, “Besides there isn’t much more to see. We think the entrance may be high on the creature’s side, so until we can find a way up there, there isn’t much we can do.”

Zelda hummed thoughtfully, tapping her cheek, “I’ll have to think of something. There must be a way to get up there.”

“You can’t climb it,” Link said flatly.

Zelda nodded, before frowning. “Wait, how do you… did you try to climb it?”

Link’s eyes widened and he let out a very fake laugh. “No? I mean, it just looks like you can’t climb it.”

Mipha fought back a laugh. Zelda made a mental note to badger the details out of her later.

****

The days Zelda was forced to stay in the castle seemed to drag on forever, but she sucked it up and smiled. She was a princess after all, and there was more to being a princess than her having sacred powers. Specifically, she had lessons to attend. Also, Link needed some time off. That was the biggest thing getting her through the week; he was getting some well-deserved time off.

Most of the recent lessons were on the provinces of the kingdom and their residents. Never mind that she spent almost all of the rest of her time out among those residents. She probably spent more time in the provinces, talking to the people, than her tutors did. As usual, most of what she actually wanted to learn she had to learn herself.

Zelda finally got some relief around midday, quickly escaping to a quieter part of the castle, down a hall not many came through here. Because frankly there wasn’t very much to see, just a few old relics. She dropped to sit in the hallway, munching on some biscuits she’d swiped from the kitchen.

Settling comfortably against the wall, Zelda stretched her legs out, taking a moment to relax. She almost groaned when she heard someone’s footsteps approaching. All she wanted was a quiet place to eat, was that really so much to ask for? But to Zelda’s complete surprise, Purah came wandering down the corridor, clearly looking for her. Purah was quite unlike her younger sister Impa; she wasn’t all that interested in the techniques of her people. However, she was more than capable of moving silently. Which meant she wanted Zelda to hear her.

“Hello, Purah,” Zelda greeted, quickly swallowing her biscuit.

Purah smiled brightly, clearly bursting to say something. Zelda scrambled to her feet, brushing the crumbs off her dress.

“Hello, Zelda,” Purah said brightly, “I have something exciting to tell you.”

Zelda nodded, then gestured down the hall. “Walk with me?”

Purah nodded back and the two of them began to walk, making their way through the corridor then outside.

“So, Robbie and I were investigating around the twin peaks and we found some more ancient machines,” Purah began eagerly, “We’ve not seen anything like them before, or the technology inside them, but we think we might be able to activate them again.”

“Oh? What do you think they do?” Zelda asked curiously.

They’d come to stop above the courtyard where the knights were training, looking down at them from the wall.

“We have no idea, but I’m sure it’s something amazing,” Purah replied with a smile, “Robbie thinks he might be able to make some weapons and armour out of the materials in and around them.”

“Wow,” Zelda said softly, “That sounds brilliant.”

Purah nodded, “And we were wondering if you wanted to come with us tomorrow to go look at them?”

Zelda’s smile brightened, before she remembered something, her face falling. “Oh, I can’t. I’m not allowed to leave the castle.”

Purah tilted her head from side to side, humming, “I’m sure your father can be convinced to let you out with two members of the Sheikah tribe. I think we can manage to keep you safe.”

Zelda snorted, “I think it’s more keeping an eye on me.”

“We’re taking you to look at ancient technology,” Purah said, “I don’t think that will be too difficult.”

Zelda laughed, shaking her head.

“Speaking of ancient technology,” Purah prompted, raising her eyebrows.

“Oh, yeah, I’ve had a talk and we might be able to get you some funding for a lab,” Zelda said with a grin, “If we play our cards right, two labs.”

“I’m going to have to decide where to put these labs aren’t I?” Purah asked thoughtfully, “It’ll need to be somewhere close to some form of ancient tech, but actually…”

She fell silent, humming thoughtfully. Zelda smiled, looking back out over the training grounds. She didn’t spend much time watching the guards train, maybe she should do it more. After all, they were an important part of the kingdom. They were also a little hypnotising to watch with their rhythmic routines. She should probably head back to her lessons though; she had to get through the rest of the day.

****

The excavation site was just a little ways north of the Twin Peaks, close to Fort Hateno. Zelda and Purah slowly descended the slightly rickety wooden staircase, Zelda being incredibly careful not to stumble on the uneven stairs. They were going awfully deep; the loose dirt they’d dug through soon replaced by a stone cave. There were huge paintings on the cave walls, ancient depictions of people long since moved on from this world.

This cave was all very clearly intentional, built to house the machinery that was kept inside. Rusted iron wall sconces lit the way, and as they stepped into a more open room there was a rotted staircase descending into the dark pit.

“After you, Zelda,” Purah said, gesturing to a ladder.

The ladder was thankfully brand-new, attached firmly to the rock wall. Zelda was incredibly glad she wouldn’t have to go down the dubious stairs. The two descended into the darkness, punctuated only by the occasional burning torch.

“How much farther is it?” Zelda asked after some time.

“Not much farther. They’re buried very deep down though,” Purah answered, “Whoever put them down here didn’t want anyone stumbling upon them accidentally.”

Zelda hummed in response as they continued deeper.

They did eventually reach the bottom, walking down another small corridor into what Zelda could only assume was the main room. Huge pillars topped with bowls of burning oil lit the area, an unusual sight. The best way Zelda could describe them was huge pots with long spindly legs.

Robbie’s head poked over one of the machines, lifting up his goggles to look at who had arrived. “Ah princess, yes. Purah said you’d be visiting us today.”

“Please, call me Zelda,” she replied, “What are you looking at?”

He gestured her over, tapping his fingers on the top of the machine he was looking over. “Come take a look. We’ve managed to open one of them up without damaging any of the workings.”

Zelda practically ran over, making Purah fight back a laugh behind her. Zelda really didn’t care, she had to see what was inside. Peering in, she saw it was full of gears, springs and screws, all interlocked so elaborately Zelda didn’t even know where to start looking. They were all clearly made of the same material and displayed the same patterning. She wanted to touch it so bad, but did not want to damage the detailed machinery.

“We have some loose components over here,” Purah said, noticing Zelda’s twitching fingers, “Some of them were smashed open, so we’ve salvaged what we can!”

“I think I might be able to repurpose some of them,” Robbie speculated, “Although we’re a long way from that yet.”

Zelda made her way over to where the components were laid out, desperate to get her hands on them. She knelt on the blanket where cogs, springs, and screws were laid out ready for examination.

“Can I borrow your Sheikah slate,” Purah asked, “I think there might be even more to it that we haven’t unlocked, and I want to look at that map you found.”

Zelda nodded without looking up, unclipping the slate from her belt and handing it to Purah, then Zelda pulled out her notebook and got to work, picking up one of the screws to start with. There was so much to discover here; she could probably stare at this one screw for hours. Okay, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration, but it was still very interesting.

The three of them worked in silence and Zelda was perfectly fine with that. It was peaceful, enabling her to just get on with her analysis. She was so used to having Link by her side, and although he very rarely talked unless she instigated the conversation, she could almost always feel his presence. It was nice, being around others that were also getting on with their own work. Although she wasn’t in any doubt that she would eventually miss his watchful eyes on her.

“Hateno Village,” Purah proclaimed suddenly, “There’s an ancient furnace there! The flame from it would be perfect for powering machinery.”

“There’s one in north Akkala too,” Robbie added, pulling his head out of the machine.

Purah smiled. “You did say you could get us funding for two labs didn’t you?”

Zelda nodded, looking over at them. “I’m negotiating, but it shouldn’t be too difficult with Impa helping.”

“Wow,” Purah snickered, “She meant it when she said she’d do anything to keep my hands off the Sheikah heirloom.”

“You’ll still need to get permission from the local lords to build on their land though,” Zelda reminder her, flipping a gear over in her hands.

“Shouldn’t be too hard. The Lady of Hateno has always been reasonable. I suppose the fact the princess is getting cosy with her only son should help,” Purah said with a smirk.

Zelda’s mouth dropped open and she began to sputter. “Link and I are not _cosy._ He’s my friend,” she protested.

Purah smiled, like she knew something Zelda did not, before continuing, “I’ll ask her. She should be fine with it. The Lord of Akkala though might be a bit more difficult to convince. I don’t think he’s completely behind our princess’s hobby.”

“He’ll come around,” Zelda said with a slight sigh, “He doesn’t even need a proper reason. Tell him it’s for the greater good of the kingdom.”

Purah raised her eyebrow, before returning to the slate in her hand. “I’ll see if I can get them to meet me. After we’ve secured the funding, obviously.”

****

Zelda was happy when Link returned; she had missed him. Unfortunately, this meant she had no more excuse not to go out and try to unlock her sacred power again. As her 17th birthday drew closer, her father seemed more and more determined for her to be able to use her powers. Both of them were well aware that, after that, her last real chance would be to pray at the Spring of Wisdom.

The ride to the Spring of Courage was relatively quiet. Zelda tried to talk a little about what she had found, but she wasn’t really feeling up to it, so her voice trailed off after a while. She just looked down at her saddle, letting Cirrus carry her along as he followed Epona. Link started shooting her concerned looks the longer she sat quiet, but as expected, didn’t say anything. She was glad for that; she didn’t really want to talk about what she was thinking.

The water was still cold and Zelda still couldn’t hear the goddess. She stood there for as long as she could, until her focus wavered and she realised she had just been staring at the goddess statue without really praying. Slamming her hands into the water—which was probably not something she should do in a sacred spring—Zelda let out an irritated noise. It wasn’t even anywhere near sunset yet.

“Zelda?” Link called gently.

She turned, looking over at him and his concerned expression. She let out a long breath, dropping her head to look at the water.

“Sorry… I…” she sighed, “I’m fine.”

“Zelda,” he said again.

She looked away, squeezing her eyes shut before huffing lightly and opening her eyes. “I’m alright, don’t worry.”

Glancing at Link one last time, Zelda began to turn back to the statue.

“Come on,” he insisted, before she could turn the rest of the way around.

He held out a hand to her.

Zelda blinked. “What?”

“Come on. You’re clearly not concentrating.”

Zelda hesitated, glancing back at the statue. “I should…” she trailed off with a frown.

“Can you really concentrate enough?”

Zelda let out a long breath, shaking her head. She began to wade out of the spring, reaching out to take Link’s hand. It was unnecessary, but it did make it a little easier to get out.

“Come on. Get changed. I have a plan.”

“A plan?” Zelda frowned suspiciously, “What are we doing?”

Link smiled, letting go of her hand and gesturing to the forest around them. “Trust me, okay?” he asked, tilting his head to one side.

Zelda didn’t even hesitate before nodding.

****

Zelda had no idea what Link was up to, but that was okay. She was currently trying to figure what he was doing all the way up in that tree, but she just couldn’t make it out. She would try asking, but had a feeling he wouldn’t tell her.

“Head’s up!” he shouted.

Zelda blinked, moving out of the way just as a heavy fruit hit the ground where she was stood a moment before. She recognised it as a hearty durian. Why Link had grabbed it, she had no idea.

“You almost hit me!” she shouted back.

Link slowly clambered back down, dropping easily out of the tree.  “I said heads up,” he pointed out, brushing his tunic down, then picking up the durian and starting to walk away. “Come on,” he said, smiling, “We still have some more things to pick up.”

She followed behind him, incredibly curious at what he was up to.

They continued wandering around the area—well, Link at least seemed to know where they were going. He was picking up bits and pieces along the way, and she couldn’t help but laugh as he tried to catch a fish with his bare hands, her mouth dropping open when he actually managed it. Zelda had some idea of what he was planning by now, but… he couldn’t possibly be.

It wasn’t until a steaming hot dish—made from all the ingredients they’d collected—that Zelda knew she’d been right. It smelled amazing, making her hum happily.

“I didn’t know you could cook,” she said, looking up at him.

Link shrugged, sitting down beside her. “My mother taught me. She kept saying she wanted me to be prepared in case I ever got lost out in the wild. She seemed… oddly convinced that would happen to me at some point.”

“I can see that happening.”

Link frowned, making a protesting noise. Zelda laughed then took a bite of the food. She groaned, it tasted incredible. How could it taste so good?

“Good?” Link said, smile all too smug.

“It’s alright,” Zelda hummed.

Link’s smile didn’t falter. He full well knew she liked it. Though, what he probably didn’t know was how much better he’d made her feel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I am continuing this...at the minute I am rather busy and am trying to juggle two multichapter fics at the same time with my beta reader so it might not have the most consistent releases I am sorry about that, I will try my hardest though to not leave it too long between updates.
> 
> Link and Zelda are both disasters and I love it...
> 
> Comments and kudos are appreciated, thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

The trek up Death Mountain was a rough one. Even with a fireproof elixir it was still scorchingly hot and a rather long way. Zelda didn’t care though; she was incredibly excited. Another large mechanical creature had been found, and this one they might actually be able to get into.

She heard a slight chuckle from behind her. Zelda turned around with a slight frown on her face and then she noticed had been marching on ahead of Link, her enthusiasm making her much faster than usual. She flushed a little, slowing to allow him to catch up.

“You could have said something,” Zelda complained.

Link shrugged. “You seemed happy.”

Zelda felt her cheeks go even redder, but continued to walk at a much more sedate pace. It took her a minute to remember he probably could have easily caught up to her. Zelda looked back down at her slate, tapping at her new picture of a hotfeather pigeon. Maybe her fireproof elixir was wearing off; she was feeling quite warm.

****

“Ah! Princess!” Daruk called from the gates, “I was starting to think you got lost!”

He let out a hearty laugh, making Zelda smile and let out a small chuckle of her own.

“Hello, Daruk,” she said, “It’s good to see you too.”

“And it’s good to see you again, little guy,” Daruk greeted Link, “It’s been so long.”

He slapped Link on the back, hard, or well probably softly for a Goron. She heard his hand hit Link’s back and Link’s knees buckled a little. If she hadn’t been paying attention, or known Link so well, she wouldn’t have noticed the slight flash of pain across his face.

“Why don’t you show us what you found?” Zelda asked, still smiling brightly.

Daruk’s enthusiasm was always infectious, his huge smile somehow broadening as he began to lead them into the city. Zelda edged closer to Link, leaning over.

“Are you okay?” she whispered.

“I’m fine,” Link said, voice sounding a bit strained.

“Are you sure? You sound a bit… wheezy.”

“Not as bad as when I ate rocks.” Link shrugged, jogging a little to catch up with Daruk.

Zelda froze, then blinked. “Wait, you did what?”

****

The mechanical beast was just as stunning as the one in the Zora’s domain, a completely different shape but very clearly made by the same people.

“Oh wow,” Zelda said softly.

“We were mining around this area, and the rock fell away and we found the big entrance. We came down here and found this and I thought it looked just like something that would interest you, Princess!” Daruk explained, grinning.

“It’s incredible, Daruk,” Zelda said, a little breathlessly.

“Over here,” he said, wandering over to the back of the creature, “There’s a door up here. We haven’t been able to get it open though.”

Zelda walked over to stand beside him, frowning up at the platform and placing her hands on her hips. “Well, let’s get up there and see what we can do.”

With permission, Daruk threw her onto the platform, causing Zelda to stumble and fall onto her hands and knees. Luckily she caught herself before falling flat on her face. Link was tossed up beside her, landing with a surprising amount of elegance. Show off. Daruk clambered up beside them, never having lost the large smile on his face.

“See here,” he said, slapping the beast, “A door, but there’s nowhere to get a grip.”

“No, there isn’t,” Zelda hummed, then pointed at a familiar structure, “But look here, there’s almost always something like this on these relics.”

The small pedestal was lit up like the one in the Shrine of Resurrection; hopefully that meant it would work. It didn’t seem to have the same type of mechanism to lock the slate into place, so Zelda held it up to the glowing spot in the centre and held her breath.

There was a flash of blue, the whole thing shifting from orange to blue. With a deep rumble, the door slid open. Zelda’s mouth dropped open and she fought back an excited noise. It was open. It had opened up for her.

“Oh,” breathed.

She took a couple of steps forwards, but Link’s hand on her shoulder stopped her progressing any further. She looked back at him, before taking a step back.

Alright, she would concede it might be dangerous. Maybe it was a good idea for him to go first.

Link moved ahead into the machine first, then Zelda followed with Daruk bringing up the rear. The interior was completely dark. Then the door slammed closed behind them. Zelda jumped, crashing into Link who was apparently right in front of her. A moment passed and then the torch that was apparently right beside them burst into a blue flame.

“Well,” Daruk said conversationally, “That’s different.”

Zelda nodded. “Yeah.”

“I think I’ve got a torch somewhere,” Link said, “Hang on.”

Pulling out a torch, he lit it on the wall sconce, the flame still burning blue when he pulled it back. He held it up, casting a little light around the room they’d entered. The torchlight didn’t reveal much, but it would at least stop them bumping into anything.

Reaching out, Zelda curled her hand into Link’s tunic. Although she didn’t think they would get separated—he was holding one of two light sources in the whole room after all—she didn’t know the layout of this room and didn’t want to risk anything. Daruk’s heavy hand fell on her shoulder.

“I suppose I shouldn’t have expected this to be easy!” he remarked.

Zelda chuckled slightly to herself, stumbling slightly as Link unexpectedly set off.

The three of them made their way slowly across the room, watching out for any danger that might jump out at them from the dark. There didn’t seem to be anything around and no sounds of movement aside from their own footsteps. Eventually they hit a wall, which turned out to be more of a window really, though Zelda couldn’t see anything past it, just more inky blackness. They followed along it, reaching another torch. Link lit it and a door in front of them opened and they continued along.

This continued a couple more times, until they reached what Zelda assumed was the last room. There was something in the middle, glowing slightly with a blue light. A huge crystal hung from the ceiling with a pedestal underneath. It looked just like the one from the Shrine of Resurrection.

Zelda took a step forward, Link’s hand shot out and rested on her shoulder. She looked at him. His face was cast in shadow, sharpening all his features. He turned to her and raised his eyebrows, Link didn’t need to say anything.

“It’ll be okay,” Zelda said, smiling gently.

“I don’t know, Princess,” Daruk said warily, “That looks… ah… suspicious…”

“Yes, but we won’t find out what it does until we try,” Zelda pointed out, shaking Link’s hand off, “I need to know what this does.”

Link let out a long breath, his hand twitching slightly at his side. He was clearly not happy with this, but it wasn’t like he could do anything to stop her. Daruk crossed his arms, shifting around. They were both preparing for the worst.

Zelda stepped forwards, sliding the slate into the indent. It locked into place, letting out another blue glow. She took a step back. The huge crystal above lit up, then light and ancient script seemed to be drawn to the bottom. A drip formed on the tip of the crystal, falling onto her slate. Then… nothing happened.

The slate unlocked from the pedestal, rising up for her to grab. Before she could though, there was a deep rumble from inside the machine. It began to shake, causing Zelda to stumble from the unexpected motion. It let out a great screeching call, shaking more.

“Woah, careful,” Daruk cautioned, reaching out to steady her.

The panels above their heads slowly opened, and it shuddered around them again. Then the entire area was suddenly flooded with a bluish light.

“Well, that was different,” Daruk laughed, blinking at the brightness, “Can’t say I was expecting that!”

The panels seemed to have fully opened, and the rumbling and movement had stopped. Moving forwards, Zelda picked up the slate, looking down at the new screen that had opened up for her.

It was a map, detailing what Zelda could only assume was the inside of the creature. She spun it around, staring at every inch. Now this… this was going to be _interesting_.

There was a bright dot on the map and, well, Zelda just had to investigate.

“Well, would you look at that!” Daruk exclaimed, peering down at the slate.

“This is just…” Zelda gushed, laughing in excitement, “I can’t believe this… just. Wow!”

She followed the map, Link and Daruk following behind her as she tried to find where the dot was. The map was a little confusing, and a tiny bit disorientating, but she was slowly getting to grips with it.

“We’re going to be able to find out so much from this!” Zelda rambled, unable to stop the huge smile on her face, “This is just amazing. I hope we can find the entrance to the one in the Zora’s Domain too.” She continued to babble, while hopefully leading them towards where the big glowing dot was.

Glancing between the slate and what she’d found herself in front of, Zelda was sure this was what the dot was marking. It was huge and looked very important, like a massive glowing blue bulb.

Link had fallen completely silent, likely having realised there was no talking Zelda out of whatever she planned on doing at this point.

Zelda held up the Sheikah slate, pressing it against the pedestal in front of the huge bulb. The whole thing flashed, almost pulsing as it began to open. It was… incredible. There was so much to what had just opened in front of her, Zelda didn’t know where to start.

It was very similarly set up to the slate, just on a much larger scale. She skimmed her fingers above it lightly, careful not to accidentally press anything. These things could be sensitive sometimes. It was covered in ancient writing—words Zelda, Purah, and Robbie had only just started to translate. She had an idea what it was saying, but wasn’t completely sure. Well, there was only one thing to do now.

She pressed something—something that didn’t look too dangerous and didn’t translate to anything dangerous. A loud groan of ancient gears moving followed, then the entire structure started to tip sideways. Zelda stumbled, falling sideways until she hit Link’s chest, his arms automatically wrapping around her. Daruk caught them both, grabbing the console. Luckily they didn’t tip too far over and Zelda was able to reach out, fumbling around to correct it.

They straightened out and Zelda shuffled away from Link.

Daruk burst into laughter. “Well, that was unexpected!”

****

Zelda didn’t try pressing anymore buttons. She should probably learn what they did before trying that again. That didn’t mean she didn’t have anything to do. This machine was huge and there was so much to take in! She was practically sprinting around the machine, inside and out, snapping photographs as she went for later examination.

Daruk had returned to Goron town. After all, the Gorons had probably heard the movement outside the mines… and the roaring.

Several Gorons came down over the course of the day to find out what all the fuss was about. Link would chat with them while Zelda zipped around. It was probably both to stop them bothering Zelda and to stop her boring or scaring them with an excessive dump of knowledge.

Zelda was the happiest she’d been in a while, but all to soon the two of them had to leave. They had to get back to the Castle and they would probably end up running out of fireproof potions if they weren’t careful. Zelda tried to hold out for as long as she could, but eventually they had to go. Both because it was getting late, and they were at risk of Daruk offering them dinner. He just didn’t seem to get that Hylians couldn’t eat rocks.

Oh well, at least Zelda was safe in the knowledge she could come back. It wasn’t like it was going to get up and leave! Well, at least until she figured out how to use it.

****

Zelda groaned, resting her face against the book in front of her. She must have read it about twenty times already, but it was the only book that had anything vaguely relevant in it. Even so, it was still completely useless no matter how many times she read it. Summarized, spirits were something that lived around them; there were many different types and some people were able to see them. Nothing about someone who wanted to see them but couldn’t… because after all who would want to?

Zelda let out a slightly louder groan, followed by a sigh. Spreading her arms out, she pressed her face into the book.

Stupid.

Crossing her arms, she rested her chin on them, letting out a huff. Why did she even bother? Nothing was going to suddenly appear and give her all the answers. Sighing again, Zelda stood up. She wasn’t getting anywhere with this. She needed to go… somewhere.

Zelda didn’t visit her mother very often, mostly because the catacombs were really creepy and because… well… other reasons.

She held up her torch in one hand, and the skirts of her dress in the other as she slowly made her way down. The catacombs were reasonably well maintained. After all, the kings and queens of the past were all down here. Didn’t stop it being creepy as all hell though. She followed the corridor down, past the graves of her ancestors. Each one was carved with the likeness of whomever was buried there, some so old the details were impossible to make out.

Finally, she reached the end, the newest grave. She placed the torch in the bracket nearby before taking a step back. The artist had captured her mother’s likeness very well, at least as much as Zelda could remember. She hated to say this but, as the years went by her mother’s face was fading from her memory. She wasn’t really sure if it even was her memory anymore, or her mind constructing something from old paintings.

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” Zelda confessed, “I don’t know what more I can do. I don’t know if there’s any more I even can do. I’m sorry.”

Letting out a long breath, she looked down at her hands. “I need guidance, I need to know what to do, I need to know… when I get to the Spring of Wisdom, what am I supposed to do?” she finished, before letting out a huff of irritated breath.

Groaning, Zelda pressed a hand over her eye. Even if her mother could possibly communicate with her from beyond, Zelda couldn’t see spirits anyway and why was she even thinking this would help in any way. Even just venting didn’t help. She needed guidance so badly! She needed someone to help her. Help her work out how to use her powers. But she couldn’t have that, because of course she couldn’t.

Grabbing the torch from the bracket, Zelda stormed her way out.

****

It wasn’t just the ancient technology Zelda was fascinated with, she also loved observing the plants and animals of Hyrule. This sometimes made her and Link go to some crazy places. After all, you never know what you might find.

“No! No! Come back!” Zelda cried, falling to her hands and knees.

The hightail lizard she’d been trying to catch skittered away unheeded, vanishing into the grass. Groaning, Zelda sat up onto her knees and frowned. Link was very clearly fighting back laughter from behind her, only letting out the occasional choked sound. She turned to glare at him, which only made him stop trying to hold it in. Zelda crossed her arms, letting out a huff of irritated breath, but a small smile twitched up the corners of her mouth.

“I’d like to see you do better,” she challenged.

Link stopped laughing immediately and smirked. His eyes flicked around the area.

Zelda tipped back further until she was sat watching him. She leant against her knees, propping her chin up.

Link very slowly picked his way across the ground.

She didn’t even see it. Suddenly Link was darting forwards, his hands closing around something. He stood up, holding the something up in victory. Maybe challenging him was not the best idea. Or it was because now she’d get a good look at a hightail lizard.

“Tah dah!” he proclaimed, holding it up.

He knelt down beside her, tilting the lizard up slightly. It didn’t look all that impressed at being held, huffing in irritation.

“Oh,” she breathed, “Hello, little guy.”

“You see, you have to be fast and quiet. Or just really, really fast.”

Zelda smiled and in that moment, the lizard seemed to decide it had had enough. It whipped its head down, sinking its teeth into Link’s finger. It didn’t have particularly sharp teeth, so it was probably more the shock that got Link to drop the lizard. It sprinted away the same way the other had gone, vanishing into the grass.

“Ow,” Link protested softly.

“I’m sure you’ll live,” Zelda said flatly, “Shame about the lizard though, I would have liked to look at it a bit longer.”

“You can catch the next one,” Link said, standing up.

“Maybe we should go frog hunting instead,” Zelda replied, accepting his helping hand to stand up, “They don’t have teeth.”

“What about some plants,” Link suggested, “They don’t move so you might be able to grab one.”

Zelda glared. “Funny.”

Link smiled, whistling for the horses.

“Well…” Zelda considered, “There was one plant I’ve been wanting to find.”

****

“Okay,” Purah said, springing to her feet, “I think I’ve got it.”

Zelda looked up from where she was laid on the floor, raising her eyebrows. Purah made her way over to the control panel, looking over the screen, and Zelda knelt up, pushing her hair out of her face.

“Are you sure?” she asked, “We don’t want any… ah… mishaps.”

“I double and triple checked,” Purah replied, “Nothing is getting blown up this time.”

“Please, we are right next to Death Mountain.”

“This thing is probably lava-proof,” Purah noted.

“I don’t want to test that theory,” Zelda replied.

“Don’t worry, we won’t.”

Purah pressed a few buttons and the beast shuddered around them, but instead of tipping sideways like last time, they began to move forwards. It was still making a slight grinding sound of old gears and it was a little jittery, but it was moving.

Working together, they made their way out of the huge cave. It was a really good climber, climbing right up and out of the cave and up the side of the cliff. She could see all the Gorons below them, staring up as they moved around the cliffs. Zelda smiled. Now this, _this_ was _fantastic_. So many opportunities. So much to find out! She was just getting started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tah dah! It's another chapter! Woo!
> 
> I am having trouble knowing where to put in Revali...I don't know how he fits in...
> 
> So, um, yeah


	5. Chapter 5

Zelda and Link were heading to Pikida Stonegrove—where another one of the huge mechanical beasts had been found—and Zelda was so caught up in her own excitement, she hadn’t realised she’d left Link behind until she was almost at the other side of Tanagar Canyon. The two of them had been skirting the edge, but Link had stopped right at the very top, looking down into the canyon.

“Link?” Zelda called out, pulling her own horse to stop, “Is everything alright?”

He didn’t even seem to hear her at first, staring down, his eyes scanning around.

“Link?” she called again, this time he looked up, “Is everything alright.”

He blinked, shaking his head a little to snap himself out of whatever funk he was in. “Sorry? Yes, I thought I heard something.”

“Heard something?” Zelda tensed, that was never good.

He wafted his hand around, shaking his head. “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it,” he said, kicking Epona into moving.

“Are you sure?” Zelda asked, frowning in concern.

“Yes, it was nothing. Well, not a monster certainly.”

Zelda’s frown deepened. She had gotten much better at reading him now, so she knew he was not telling the whole truth. He’d ridden a head of her now though and was clearly not all that interested in talking. Zelda huffed out a breath, kicking Cirrus into a trot. She’d get it out of him eventually.

****

The mechanical beast was hidden extremely well, deep in the mountains. Zelda buried her face deeper in her coat, rubbing her nose gently against it to try to warm it up. They’d had to leave the horses behind, as there was a slight ridge they couldn’t get up and moving through the snow on foot was slow going.

Link was on high alert, after all up here in the mountains was where most of the monsters tended to hide. Zelda wasn’t worried though, she felt perfectly safe with Link by her side.

“We’re supposed to be meeting a Rito named Revali around here somewhere,” Zelda stated, glancing around.

She’d heard about Revali before; how could she not have? He was supposedly the best warrior of the Rito, but Zelda had never met him person, as he was always away at his private training grounds. The village elder was supposed to have guided them, but he was apparently busy today. Zelda had a feeling he just didn’t want to head out here.

The two of them trudged on for a while, Zelda trying to ignore the fact her ears were going numb. Link’s eyes were darting around, his nose and the tips of his ears having gone an adorable rosy red colour. Zelda quickly averted her eyes, feeling her face heat up. She had to stop that.

Link tensed suddenly, hand jerking to reach for his sword. Zelda tensed as well, head snapping around to try and see what he’d spotted. Link then relaxed and his hand fell back to his side. A Rito dropped from the mountain above, landing in front of them in a flurry of snow.

“Princess,” the Rito greeted, turning his head to look at them.

“You must be Revali,” Zelda returned, “It is a pleasure to meet you. This is my personal knight, Link.”

Revali looked Link up and down, letting out a hum and clicking his beak lightly, then turned to head towards the mountains. “Well, it’s this way. I was investigating a small avalanche in the area and noticed there was something wrong with the mountain. At first, I thought it was a monster stronghold…”

Revali continued with his story of how he investigated the area, about how he bravely fought something off, honestly Zelda started to tune him out quickly. Instead she was paying attention to the carvings on the wall, trying to figure out the story they were telling. All of the carvings from each of the locations where the mechanical creatures were found were slightly different, but seemed to be depicting the same thing. Zelda couldn’t help but think, if she combined them all together, they would tell one long story. She couldn’t wait to find it out.

The huge machine looked like a giant bird, well, Zelda was pretty sure it did. Like all the others, it was in incredibly good condition considering how long it had probably been buried. Zelda immediately pulled out her notepad, almost sending the contents of her bag spilling everywhere in her enthusiasm.

She darted around the mechanical beast, scribbling down all the information she could. Although its shape was very different, it was clearly built by the same people, and from the same material as the other two. It sent Zelda’s mind into overdrive. How many of these things were there? Were they just going to keep finding more and more of them?

Zelda circled all the way around the whole structure, unfortunately, like the one in the Zora’s domain, she couldn’t see a way in. Link and Revali were exactly where she’d left them. She couldn’t hear the one-sided conversation Revali seemed to be having with Link, but Link didn’t seem all that entertained with what he was saying. In fact, if she looked closer, he was looking a little frustrated.

She bounced a little as she walked back over, unable to wipe the big smile off her face. “This is amazing. A fantastic find!”

Revali looked very pleased with himself, puffing up his chest a little. Link flashed her a gentle smile, Zelda grinned back at him.

“I don’t know how to get in though,” she said, tapping her leg lightly, “The top looks really flat though, maybe up there? Do you think you could boost me up?” She looked over at Link, tilting her head to one side.

Revali hummed, starting his own circuit around the beast.

Link looked thoughtful, glancing between Zelda and the beast. “I can try?” he said hesitantly, “I don’t know if I can get you that high.”

“Well, we won’t know until we try,” she replied, marching over to what looked like the lowest point.

Link nodded, wandering over to where she was standing.

“Okay,” Zelda said, “I’m going to stand on your shoulders?”

Link nodded again. He braced himself against the beast.

Alright, this shouldn’t be difficult. Zelda could do this; she’s done things much more difficult before. Using Link’s knee as a step, she carefully rested her foot on his shoulder. “Are you sure this is okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine,” Link assured, curling his hand around Zelda’s ankle.

“Alright.”

Shifting her weight, Zelda ever so carefully rested her other foot on Link’s other shoulder. Resting her hands on the beast for balance, Link ever so slowly stood the whole way up. She could just poke her head over the side of the beast, to see the flat top. Placing her hands on the flat surface, she began to haul herself up. Link helped boost her, so soon enough she was laid on the back of the creature. Success!

Dusting herself off, Zelda stood. Huge propellers were situated around the wings, and Zelda almost bounced on her feet seeing them. Could this thing fly? Was there really a way for this huge machine to get airborne? Zelda let out a long breath. No, she was getting way a head of herself, and that might not be the case. Still, she thought as she continued scanning her eyes over the top, she was not going to write that off as a possibility…

There! Just like the one in the beast on Death Mountain, a huge bulb-like thing right in the middle of its back. She practically sprinted over; it didn’t matter, no one could see her. Holding up the Sheikah slate to the small pedestal, Zelda almost cheered when it opened up, revealing very similar controls. Yes! This just kept getting better and better. A few of the controls were labelled differently, clearly something unique to this beast. She needed to get Purah here to help translate the others, and to possibly get this thing to fly.

She made her way back over to the edge, peering over to see Link and Revali.

“I think this machine can fly,” Zelda called down.

Link’s eyes widened, making Zelda’s smile brighter.

“Fly?” Revali asked, “Well, if you want any advice on that, I’m sure I can spare a few minutes.”

“Well, I need to talk to Purah first,” Zelda continued, “I need her to translate some of these controls. Unless you can read the ancient language?”

Revali clicked his beak lightly. “Well, you will have to tell me when you do. After all, I have never seen a Hylian fly.”

Zelda nodded. “Well, I will, if you think you can help us.”

“Yes, I can,” Revali replied.

“Alright,” Zelda said, “Link, help me down?” She then lowered herself down as far as she could, before letting go. Link caught her easily, lowering her to the ground much too quickly for Zelda’s liking. No, no, she didn’t have time for that. “Come on. Our horse’s will be worried, and we shouldn’t be out on the snowfields at night.”

Link nodded and the three of them made their way out of the cave.

They hadn’t stepped very far out of the caves before Zelda was pushed to the ground, an ice arrow whizzing past right where she had stood a second before. Link reached for his bow, but before he even got a chance to grab an arrow, several explosions sounded around the mountain.

Several Bokoblins and Lizalfos fell from the tops of the mountains, puffs of dark smoke showing where more had died before falling. Zelda’s head darted around, glancing over at Revali, who was holding his bow out. Wow, alright then. Link helped Zelda to her feet, apologizing softly for pushing her to the ground.

“That’s alright.” Zelda smiled lightly at him. “I’d rather end up with a face full of snow than being hit by an ice arrow.” She dusted the snow off her coat, before turning to Revali. “That was some impressive shooting.”

“Well, they don’t call me the best shot in the village for nothing,” he said.

Link moved quickly, shoving Revali out of the way and drawing his sword, running it through the Bokoblin that had managed to sneak up on them. It seemed to stun him into silence, and the three of them made their way out of the snowfields without another word.

****

“I just don’t know what’s happening,” Zelda sighed, “I get that they’re monsters, and we were encroaching on where they usually are, but they’re never normally this hostile?”

Urbosa hummed, running her fingers through Zelda’s hair. She began to put little braids in it.

“Sorry, I came for a visit and all I’ve done is complain.”

Urbosa chuckled softly, giving Zelda’s shoulder a quick squeeze. “Don’t worry about it, you know I’m here if you need an ear. Besides, I also noticed an increase in monster attacks lately.”

Zelda let out a long breath, leaning against her knees. “It’s just, so strange. We usually get so few monster attacks and they’ve just been cropping up everywhere.”

Urbosa hummed, “Apparently a resurgence of monster attacks is a sign of an approaching calamity.”

Zelda sat bolt upright, staring and sputtering at Urbosa.

She held up a hand, laughing softly. “Don’t worry, there is no calamity coming,” she said, “There would me many more signs if it was. No, what is more likely is that they are in too big numbers for the resources they have. They’ll be coming down in hopes for food. You shouldn’t worry, they will retreat or die off soon enough.”

Zelda considered this, then nodded. “Yes, okay. I’ve been deploying knights to the most distant areas, there haven’t been any sightings close to the capital since those ones in Hyrule Field.”

“Well that’s good,” Urbosa said, “You are doing everything you need to do. We will get through this.”

“I know, sorry, I’m just worried.”

Urbosa smiled softly. “You will make a great queen one day.”

Zelda felt her face heat up, making a soft noise. “I… thank you.”

“I never doubted you. But I bet you’re glad you were assigned a private knight though.”

Zelda sighed, tilting her head back. “Fine, you were right, it was a good idea,” she conceded, “And we’re getting along great now.”

Urbosa laughed, tilting her head back. “I didn’t _want_ you to say that, but I appreciate it. I’m glad you two are getting along now. I knew you would.”

“How? How could you know that?” Zelda questioned, “You’ve barely talked to him.”

“I talked to him enough. And if he’s anything like his parents, I knew you were in good hands.”

“You knew his parents?”

“Of course, his father, along with yours, were your mother’s most trusted knights. I only met his mother a couple of times. She was an interesting woman. Not really what I was expecting,” Urbosa said, a light smile on her face, “They were good people.”

Zelda nodded. “Yes, I am too.”

There was a long pause then. Zelda looked up. Urbosa was shooting her a look, a look she didn’t appreciate.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked with a slight frown.

“Like what?” Urbosa asked, smile slipping into something more teasing.

Zelda huffed, “You know what.”

Urbosa laughed, ruffling Zelda’s hair. “I am glad you came to came to visit. There is something I wished to show you,” Urbosa deflected, standing up, “It’s quite a trek through the desert though, if you’re up for it?”

Zelda nodded and let the question drop. “Yes, I always am. What have you got to show me?”

“Ah well, you’ll just have to have patience.”

****

It was another mechanical beast. Another one! Zelda’s mouth dropped open, her hands going up to cover it. How could they keep finding these things? What were they? Who built them? Why had they never been found before? Why were they buried in the mountains? What were all the markings? All these questions would have run through Zelda’s head, if her brain hadn’t currently shut down a little with excitement.

“This… is… amazing!” Zelda said brightly, “How did you find this?”

“We were investigating around the area and noticed some inconsistencies,” Urbosa said, “We didn’t have to go very deep to find this cave.”

“So, that makes four of these things,” Zelda muttered to herself, pulling out her notebook, “Four of them, in four corners of Hyrule. What could it mean? Is this the last one? Or is there one in central Hyrule? Do these markings mean something?”

“Slow down,” Urbosa said with a chuckle, “Take a deep breath.”

Zelda took a deep, shaking breath to try to calm herself and her mind. “Sorry, I’m just excited. With each new discovery we get more and more pieces of the puzzle. And this could possibly be the last piece!”

She looked up at the huge machine. Again, there wasn’t really a way to get in that she could see. Right now though, that didn’t matter. They’d found so much recently, there had to be some answers somewhere in the ruins and machines. She just had to find them.

****

Zelda and Link were riding up towards the castle when the heavy clouds finally did what they were threatening to do all morning, sending all their water cascading down. They looked at each other briefly before kicking their horses into action.

“Zelda!” Link yelled over the rain.

She glanced over at him. He was gesturing to a large tree overlooking the Bridge of Hylia. She was pretty sure there was a small structure with a statue in they could take shelter in. She nodded, steering Cirrus towards it. The pair galloped towards the tree, both of them getting thoroughly soaked through before reaching it. She pulled Cirrus to a stop under the shelter of its branches, which offered reasonably good protection against the rain.

Dismounting, Zelda led Cirrus closer to the trunk. And there was the small shelter with a statue in it, just as she thought. Releasing his reins, Zelda dropped down to sit in the shelter with a long breath. Alright, looks like they’d be here for a while.

Link was stood in front of the shelter, busying himself with swinging his sword around in practiced motions. Zelda realised she’d been doing that a lot: watching him. Not in a creepy way, or at least, she hoped not. Bending her knees, she rested her chin on her crossed arms. Although they’d spent a lot of time together, there was still a lot she didn’t know about him.

Zelda couldn’t help but ask about his father, about the path he had chosen with his life. Maybe she was prying too far, maybe she was giving too much of her own thoughts away. His sword slowly lowered to his side, him turning slowly to her.

“My mother,” he started, before hesitating, “She used to tell me stories when I was young, of the Hyrule knights, of my father, of all the adventures they went on, and all the brave things they did.”

Link tilted his head back, letting out a long breath. Zelda was listening with rapt attention, even leaning forwards slightly.

“It made me want to be a knight,” he continued, “Go on adventures, fight monsters, be just like my father.” He let out a soft laugh, a gentle smile on his face. “Turns out she was telling me these stories to encourage me to want to be a knight. She knew I was going to be pressured into it like my father. She wanted it to be my decision to do so, so I did not feel like I was being forced.”

Zelda blinked. “I… what happened after that?”

“I was a little angry for a while. After all she was still pushing me towards being a knight, if in a more gentle way. I realised soon enough she was just doing her best to keep me happy, and honestly, I’m glad I became a knight.”

“Yes?” Zelda said quietly.

“Yes.” Link smiled at her, right at her. “I don’t regret the path I’ve taken. I’m glad I did.”

He wandered over then, putting his sword away and sliding down to sit beside her. Zelda felt her heart jump and oh, oh no. She _did_ have feelings for Link, the denial fell away, leaving her feelings bare. Goddess, she didn’t have time for this. She had so much on her plate she couldn’t deal with this right now.

The two of them sat in silence, simply watching the rain fall. Zelda was incredibly grateful she was able to keep a stony face, so she was able to have her internal freak out without Link realising. She had to forget about her feelings. She had to focus on unlocking her powers. There was not enough time for her to unlock her powers, deal with her feelings, and find out about the ancient inhabitants of Hyrule. Yes, ignoring her feelings for now would be the best.

The rain eventually stopped, but it took a very long time. Link stood, offering her a hand up. Taking his hand, Zelda allowed him to haul her to her feet. Turning, she snapped a picture of where they had taken shelter. After all, she may have been repressing her feelings right now, but a small part of her still wanted the reminder. Also, the view of the Bridge of Hylia with the thick storm clouds over it was stunning.

“Are you ready to go?” Link asked from the back of Epona.

Zelda nodded, swinging herself onto Cirrus’s saddle.

“We should head back quickly, the clouds are still thick, it may rain again,” she replied.

Link nodded with a light smile, kicking Epona into action. Zelda let out a long breath, kicking Cirrus into following. They were going to be okay. She would make sure they were okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mean...I am taking many, many liberties with backstories...and people's families...  
> Oh well


End file.
